BlockBefore

Ben Hur, California

28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Mariposa census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93653. It lies near Lacy Hill. The Survey maps it on the Ben Hur quadrangle. It stands 1,752 feet above sea level.

Ben Hur within Mariposa County

Then and now

1912 to 1980

The same ground, surveyed 68 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Ben Hur, surveyed 1980
Topographic sheet of Ben Hur, surveyed 1912

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 28 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

38 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 38 fires within 5 miles of Ben Hur between 1992 and 2018, burning about 2,063 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined19
Equipment and vehicle use9
Natural3
Debris and open burning3
Other causes1
Arson/incendiarism1
Smoking1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 1992Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitTOTOKON
7 September 2000Equipment and vehicle use6.0 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitLONG
6 September 2000Naturalunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitWHITEROCK
3 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined56 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitROCK
3 September 1998Natural20 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitQUICK
2 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undetermined400 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitBEAR
13 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitOAK GROVE RD BOOTJACK
24 August 1994Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitLOWER SILVER BAR

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Mariposa County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 15 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Ben Hur: 6 occurrences, 4 past producers, 2 producers, 2 prospects. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Copper, Silver, Copper, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Campo Campodonica ItalianGold, Silver, CopperPast ProducerCopper, Gold, Silver
Edmonds DredgeGold, SilverPast Producer
BurniteCopperOccurrence
Klondike and Last ChanceCopper, GoldProducer
Klondike and Last ChanceCopperProspect
RobinsonCopperOccurrenceVein
RobinsonCopperProspect
Unidentified WorkingsCopperUnknown
Unidentified WorkingsCopperOccurrence
CarsonGoldPast ProducerGold

Every working recorded in Mariposa County

Storms near this place

2 since 2019

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ben Hur in 2 storm reports in 2019: 1 funnel cloud, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2019Funnel CloudBen Hur-KFSN TV-30 sent imagery of a funnel cloud from a viewer located north of Raymond at 1800 PDT. The location of the funnel cloud was estimated by radar velocity data.
February 2019Tornado (EF0)Ben Hur-A National Weather Service Storm Survey confirmed that a weak EF 0 tornado had touched down near the intersection of Ben Hur Road and Beach Road south of Mariposa.

Every storm recorded in Mariposa County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Bridgeport6.2 miles20
Mormon Bar7.6 miles25
Bootjack8.7 miles25
Mariposa9.2 miles25
Catheys Valley9.3 miles20
Agua Fria9.8 miles20
Mount Bullion11.7 miles31
Elliott Corner12.4 miles28

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Ben HurAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q4885886The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1658033. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.